3 posts from December 2007

Last Monday, I took the dreaded glucose tolerance test. This is done usually between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy to check for gestational diabetes. You drink a very sugary liquid first thing in the morning and then get your blood sugar tested one hour later. If your blood sugar is under a certain number (I think 120) then you pass. If it's over 120, then you usually have to come in for a three hour test which is pretty much the same procedure except your blood is taken every hour for three hours.

Certain risk factors increase your chances of getting gestational diabetes: having had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy, having Type II diabetes in the family and being overweight. In my case, I had two strikes against me as my father's side of the family has many cases of Type II and I'm overweight. I never even got to the three hour test. My one hour blood sugar was so high that I was referred directly to the gestational diabetes program at my hospital. I took the test on Monday, got the results back on Tuesday and have been under the new regime of strict diet, exercise and testing my blood sugar four times a day since Wednesday.

My meals for the last few days have looked very much like this. Most meals (except for breakfast) are 2 exchanges of starch, 3 exchanges of protein and 2 exchanges of vegetables. I've been eating a lot of whole wheat bread in the past days but it's amazing how hard to find bread that's under 15g of carbohydrate per slice! Most wheat or whole grain breads are over 20g of carbohydrate per slice. I'm allowed to have things like butter and salad dressing, luckily. What I'm not allowed, surprisingly, is fruit and milk. I can eat fruit and milk but in limited quantities, never together and never at breakfast. It really puts a damper on what I normally have for breakfast.

In the grand scheme of things, it's really not all that bad -- it just takes a lot of getting used to. To go from eating as I always did to a super strict diet took a lot of getting used to. On Wednesday morning, I could have sugar and by Wednesday afternoon, I couldn't have any! All meals were to be eaten on a schedule, all to be followed by a period of exercise and a finger stick blood sugar test. All the changes made my head spin.

I was particularly depressed on Friday afternoon because it seemed like my blood sugar just wouldn't get under the numbers that were set for me and it looked like having to use insulin (ie. shooting myself) was going to be another part of this new regime. My dietitian still isn't happy with my blood sugar levels so I'm seeing an endocrinologist tomorrow. I'm hoping against hope that insulin isn't needed but if it is, it's a small price to pay for a healthy baby.

I've slacked on taking belly photos for the past few weeks (didn't take any for 21w & 22w) but I got another shot last night. I also decided to do another progression. I'm sure the tank top that I'm wearing in these shots probably won't last me much longer!